


Exhale

by EldritchSandwich



Category: Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms, Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Butlers, Chunky Sandwich, F/F, Literal Sleeping Together, Love Confessions, Post-Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 21:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16072121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EldritchSandwich/pseuds/EldritchSandwich
Summary: After her return from Paititi, Lara still has one great battle left to fight.





	Exhale

"Your tea, Ms. Croft."

Lara shook her head, looking up from her perch at the small outdoor table on the edge of the manor's lazy, mist-wreathed gardens. After a warm morning the afternoon had turned unexpectedly cool and damp, but it was still a nice place to sit and soak in the manor's beauty. She set the letter she'd been reading down and turned her smile to Winston. "Thank you."

Winston nodded as he set down the tray. "Might I be so bold as to enquire after Mr. Maiava and Ms. Ortiz?"

Lara's fond smile turned back to the letter. Since she'd returned to England after her stint helping restore order in Paititi, she'd had one phone call from Jonah and three letters; she would have thought that a satellite phone and Kuwaq Yaku's isolation from supply lines would have made it easier to call than write, but then Jonah always was a bit of a traditionalist. "It sounds like they're doing well. Apparently Kuwaq Yaku's experiencing a bit of a renaissance, which I'm sure has nothing to do with it being Paititi's unofficial link to the outside world." Winston smiled, and Lara picked up the letter again with a chuckle. "He says he's very nearly convinced Abby that Kuwaq Yaku can survive without her long enough for them to take a holiday here."

"Ah, well that would be delightful. I must say I'm quite interested in meeting the young Ms. Ortiz."

"I think you'll like her. She and Jonah make a good pair." If there was any wistfulness in her voice, Winston was circumspect enough to let it pass unremarked-on, and she shook her head and picked up the rest of the mail. There was a letter from her uncle Atlas, which she put aside for another time so as not to ruin her good mood, and another that...she furrowed her brow. "Winston...who do I know in Switzerland?"

Winston's eyebrows rose. "I'm sure I couldn't say, ma'am. Perhaps...someone from your school days?"

Lara frowned. "Maybe..." She turned over the envelope and gently worked it open, eager as ever to get to the bottom of another mystery. Maria, maybe, from her days at Prior's Field, the girl who taught her how to shave her legs? She was Swiss, wasn't she? Or was it Belgian? She was still trying to remember what exactly the bubbly-to-the-point-of-annoying blonde's accent had sounded like as she pulled the letter out and flicked it open. When she did, she froze.

_Don't blame Mom._

That was the entirety of the first line, which in and of itself would have been strange enough to merit pause, but the handwriting...

Well, she'd know the handwriting anywhere.

_Don't blame Mom._

_I know you probably don't want to hear from me, whatever your reason is, but I don't care anymore. I'm so fucking sick of pretending like my life's okay, like the entire world's not fucking crazy and the only person I could talk to about it refuses to have anything to do with me and won't even tell me why. So if you won't talk, I will. Mom's doing her best to keep me out of your way, just like you wanted, but I can still use the internet and I know you got the manor back from your uncle. That's why I'm sending this, because even after everything that's happened I'd never want to do anything to hurt you._

_So here's the deal. On September 22nd, I'm going to be at your front door. I don't care whether you think it's dangerous or a bad idea or whatever it is you think, but I also don't want to hurt you. So I'm writing ahead instead of just showing up to give you a choice: you can't stop me, but when I knock on your door, you can either let me in or you can find an excuse not to be there. And if you're not there then I promise I'll never bother you again. You have my word._

_Do whatever you have to do, and don't worry about me. Whatever happens, I'll live._

_Sam_

"Ms. Croft?" Lara shot upright, the letter almost tearing in her white-knuckled grip. "I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but is something the matter?"

Lara shook her head, scrubbing the back of her hand across her eyes; until it came away wet, she didn't even notice the tears that had probably caught Winston's attention. "No. Yes, I...sorry, Winston, I...there's been a...I need to...I need to make some preparations for..." Her eyes were skipping as much as her speech, flicking from one snippet to another trying to make sense of...something, anything that she was reading. Then they settled on one particular tidbit and she froze again.

_September 22nd._

"Ms. Croft?"

Winston was barely spry enough to grab the tea service before her mad scramble for the envelope upset it. When she flipped over the empty envelope, her eyes went wide.

The postmark was from _two weeks ago_.

She barely even had time to register Winston's shocked expression as she shot out of her chair and sprinted for the front door. She wrenched it open, practically off its hinges, only to be greeted with mist and silence that was only broken by the sound of her own boots on the drive as she stampeded to the front gate. No sign that anyone had been there either, just the empty road in either direction, and Lara shot back with a frustrated groan. She'd been out of the manor in the morning, on a trip to the British Museum, what if...

She tore back into the manor just as Winston was entering the main hall looking as close to freaked out as the implacable butler was able. "Winston! I...when I was out this morning, were there any calls, or..."

"No, Ms. Croft. Ma'am, might I take the liberty of assuming we are expecting company today?" he asked gently, and Lara winced. She took a deep breath, forced herself to slow down, and exhaled.

"I...I don't know. Maybe. I need..." She shook her head. "I don't...I don't know what I need."

Winston nodded sagely. "Perhaps...a hot shower? An opportunity to clear your head?"

Lara closed her eyes and nodded. "Thank you, Winston. If...while I'm..."

"I will make certain to inform you of any guests or callers immediately, Ms. Croft. Modesty permitting, of course."

Lara smirked. "Thank you, Winston."

"Of course, Ms. Croft."

As Lara headed upstairs, her face blank and her gaze far, far away, Winston shook his head and busied himself with tidying up the now completely forgotten tea service.

* * *

"Ms. Croft."

Lara looked up from the fire, blinking distractedly as Winston appeared out of the shadows of the darkened manor. "Yes?"

Winston pursed his lips carefully. "Ma'am...I'll be heading off to bed. If you've...no more need of me tonight."

Lara flinched. "Of course. Go on."

"As you wish. Good night, ma'am."

"Good night, Winston."

Winston bowed. He turned to leave, then paused and opened his mouth as if to speak. Instead he simply shook his head softly and left Lara to the flickering red circle of the fire in the hearth and the sound of rain pounding on the roof. The sedate, foggy weather had turned nasty around sunset, and now as midnight approached it was sheeting rain from a pitch-black, starless sky.

Lara shook her head. Just as well that Sam never actually showed up.

The worst part was that Lara didn't know what it meant. Did she change her mind? Did something happen to her? Did her mother stop her? Did...someone else? She had nothing but a Swiss address and a date, nothing to go on except...what? Drive to Heathrow and start searching the crowds? As the night had gone on she'd briefly considered it, only the thought that leaving the manor would make her miss Sam altogether stopping her. But now, as that old ornate clock on the mantle chimed twelve, she realized that it didn't matter. She'd felt so full of life and hope when she came back from Peru, so sure of herself and her place in the world, and then one letter had sent it all crashing back down.

And so she was sitting there, staring into the fire with the dead eyes of a woman who couldn't think of any particularly compelling reasons not to throw herself into it headfirst, when the clock struck thirteen.

Lara blinked.

The clock didn't, of course, strike thirteen. Clocks didn't do that. As she shook her head and looked around, she realized that the sound she'd heard wasn't a clock. It was the buzzing of the security system.

She was up and off the sofa in seconds, the poor front door straining against its hinges once again as she ripped it open, only to be met with inky blackness and the roar of splashing rain. Her heart sank. The buzzer sounded again.

Lara's eyes went wide. _The gate!_

Lara sprinted blindly into the rain, down the slick drive to the wrought-iron gate she could just about make out from the faint glow of the lamps atop each of its looming granite posts. The gate parted with a creak that was all but inaudible over the downpour, and Lara could only barely see the slender figure in the hooded jacket, braced against the rain, stomping resolutely back toward the black taxi idling in the road. Lara's heart leapt into her throat, as did a single word she hadn't said in far too long.

"Sam!" The figure stopped, straightened up, and turned. When the hooded face tipped up and dark eyes met hers, she felt like she'd just been shot in the chest. She swallowed, wracking her feverish brain for what she could possibly say. What came out of her mouth was "You're late."

"My flight got delayed." Sam pursed her lips. "Does this mean you want to talk to me?" she asked sharply, practically shouting to be heard over the rain. When Lara's mouth only moved impotently, she shook her head. "Come on, Lara, just...say something! I know you don't want anything to do with me and that's fine, just fucking say it to my face! Say something! Anything!"

Lara burst into tears. The shaking turned to massive, wheezing, wailing sobs in seconds, and Lara dropped to her knees under their weight as she heard the click of Sam's heels.

"Oh fuck! Oh Jesus, sweetie, I'm so sorry!" Lara sucked in a breath as Sam dropped down next to her and gathered her into her arms. Lara's hands clawed at Sam's back, desperate to pull her closer even as the heat of Sam's cheek pressed against hers began to spread. "I'm so fucking sorry, I should have known that all that stuff my mom said was bullshit, I'm so sorry sweetie, it's okay don't cry..."

Lara could only shake her head and squeeze Sam tighter, the rain soaking them to the bone as they sat in the middle of the road in each other's arms. Lara took a deep breath, only to be interrupted by the blare of a car horn.

The two women jumped in shock and turned to face the scowling cabbie glaring at them through the open passenger door. "Oi! You gettin' back in or what?"

* * *

"Thanks." Sam accepted the mug of cocoa with a tentative smile, then pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. They were both in front of the fire now, swaddled in blankets and airing their damp hair and they were probably both going to end up with pneumonia or something but Lara didn't even care. Sam took a sip from her mug, then set it down. "So...you're saying...you've been to two completely different lost cities...with two completely different make-you-a-god-and-let-you-remake-the-world ancient artifacts?"

Lara took a sip of her cocoa and licked her lips. "Mm, well, technically three artifacts, if you count the knife _and_ the box, so..." Sam chuckled, and the melodic little sound took Lara's breath away. Her smile faded. "Sam...I never, ever wanted to hurt you."

Sam winced. "I know."

"I just...I was trying to protect you, Trinity was...they were so big, and the more I learned the more I realized how much they'd infiltrated my life and how much they'd taken from me, and I...I just couldn't..."

"So you cut me out of your life and made sure I was completely defenseless if anyone did come after me," Sam said sharply, and Lara flinched. "I just...what did you think I was going to think? Hell, what were you thinking?"

Lara shook her head. "I don't know. I...I think I thought that...I think I thought that giving you up would hurt less than losing you."

The silence was broken by a snort of riotous laughter, and Lara looked up in shock to find Sam grinning at her. "Oh my god! Are you for real? That sounded like something from a Nicholas Sparks movie..." Lara flushed, and Sam shook her head affectionately. Soon, though, her smile faded. "So did it?"

Lara blinked. "What?"

"Hurt less."

Lara swallowed, Sam's dark eyes fixed on hers in the flickering firelight. She could feel something, there in the darkness between them, something that had never been this close to the surface before, not even on Yamatai. "Sam, I..."

As Lara's lips worked impotently, Sam set her mug down on the end table with a sigh. "Look, Lara, just...just answer me one thing, okay?" Lara nodded. "If you could do the whole thing again, would you really do... _anything_ differently?"

Lara nodded. "Yes. I...I would." Sam tilted her head, eyebrows rising expectantly. Lara sighed. Even if she'd wanted to keep pretending after everything that had happened, tonight...well, something told her that one way or another tonight was the last night of whatever they used to be. Lara swallowed. "I would have kissed you," she whispered.

Sam's eyes went wide. "What?"

Lara's eyes dropped, too ashamed to meet Sam's but too tired and too desperate to pretend anymore. "After Yamatai. After I...after I thought I'd lost you, after I realized how I...I would have kissed you, I would have told you that I...how much you..." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sam, I really am, I know—"

Her words disappeared into Sam's mouth. Lara's breath hitched as Sam crashed into her, soft lips taking hers with so much force she was amazed it didn't flip them both back over the sofa's narrow arm.

Well, what little part of her was left to be amazed by anything other than _holy shit Sam was kissing her_. Sam's fingers slid into her hair, tipping her head up, and _holy shit she was kissing Sam back_. Lara's heart strained against her chest, her lips seeking Sam's and a faint moan rising from the back of her throat.

When Sam finally broke the kiss after what felt like a far-too-short eternity, she pressed her forehead against Lara's with a sigh. "God Lara you're so fucking stupid."

Lara winced. "I know. Sam, I'm so sorry, I—"

Sam tipped her head up again, silencing Lara with a shorter, rougher kiss. When she pulled back, she was smiling. "Lara Croft. You are going to have a very, very long time to make it up to me."

As Sam's body pressed against hers, Lara couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Sunrise in Croft Manor found Sam and Lara asleep on the sofa across from the smoldering ashes of the fire, Sam's head tucked against Lara's chest and Lara's arms cinched around Sam's waist so tightly that anyone who saw them would have been struck by how well they fit together.

Winston, well...he hardly needed to have seen them to know that.

He simply smiled to himself, very gently tugged the blanket up around their shoulders, and headed off toward the kitchen to see to breakfast.


End file.
